Personal emergency response system

ABSTRACT

Technology for an enhanced personal emergency response system (e-PERS) unit is disclosed. The e-PERS unit can transmit a general message related to a personal emergency to a personal emergency response system (PERS) computing service environment (CSE), wherein the general message includes an identification (ID) of the e-PERS unit to enable the e-PERS CSE to send the ID of the e-PERS unit to a monitoring station. The e-PERS unit can receive a unit profile message from the e-PERS CSE. The e-PERS unit can: open a voice channel to the monitoring station in response to receiving the general message from the e-PERS CSE, or receive a voice call from the monitoring station in response to receiving the ID of the e-PERS unit at the monitoring station. The e-PERS unit can include a display screen and a base unit help button.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/802,358 filed Nov. 2, 2017, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/416,238, filed Nov. 2, 2016, theentire specifications of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) can be used by persons withhealth issues to call for help in an emergency. A typical PERS unit caninclude a base unit with a simple user interface, such as a button,which can be activated in the event of an emergency. A typical PERS canalso include a personal help button worn on the user to communicate withthe PERS unit. The personal help button can activate the base unit tocall a Central Station (Response Center) for help. Personal help buttonsare typically worn by a person to enable the person to call for help ifnobody else is around. The personal help button can include a radiotransmitter that can be used to send a signal. The signal may be sent tothe base unit, which can then be sent to an emergency response centerthat monitors the PERS. The radio transmitter may allow the user tocommunicate with the emergency response center, and inform them aboutthe emergency. The emergency response center can then offer assistanceto the user, if necessary.

Modern healthcare has become increasingly expensive. To reduce costs,more and more healthcare and recovery is performed in the home.Enhancements to a PERS can allow the PERS to be more useful to the user,caregivers, dealers, as well as to home healthcare providers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from thedetailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example,features of the disclosure; and, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an enhanced personal emergency response system(e-PERS) unit in accordance with an example;

FIG. 2 illustrates an e-PERS unit with a wireless wide area network(W-WAN) radio access technology (RAT) in accordance with an example;

FIG. 3 illustrates an e-PERS unit with one or more wireless local areanetwork (W-LAN) radio access technologies or wireless personal areanetwork (W-PAN) (RATs) in accordance with an example; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram that illustrates an example computingservice environment (CSE).

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of a legacy PERS unit and a monitoringstation in accordance with an example.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of an e-PERS unit, a computing serviceenvironment, and a monitoring station in accordance with an example.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of an e-PERS unit, a computing serviceenvironment, and a monitoring station in accordance with an example.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram of an e-PERS unit, a computing serviceenvironment, and a monitoring station in accordance with an example.

FIG. 9 depicts functionality of an e-PERS computing service environment(CSE) in accordance with an example.

FIG. 10 depicts functionality of an e-PERS unit in accordance with anexample.

Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, andspecific language will be used herein to describe the same. It willnevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of theinvention is thereby intended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the present invention is disclosed and described, it is to beunderstood that this invention is not limited to the particularstructures, process steps, or materials disclosed herein, but isextended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by thoseordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understoodthat terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describingparticular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. The samereference numerals in different drawings represent the same element.Numbers provided in flow charts and processes are provided for clarityin illustrating steps and operations and do not necessarily indicate aparticular order or sequence.

Example Embodiments

An initial overview of technology embodiments is provided below and thenspecific technology embodiments are described in further detail later.This initial summary is intended to aid readers in understanding thetechnology more quickly but is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the technology nor is it intended to limit thescope of the claimed subject matter.

A legacy personal emergency response system (PERS) unit can comprise aconsole that can communicate with a monitoring center through two-wayvoice and data signaling. It can be activated by a transmitter worn on aperson. The legacy PERS unit communication with the monitoring centercan require a multi-operation process that can take more than 15 secondsto execute. The process can include: the dialing of a phone to contactthe monitoring center; a handshake message sent from the monitoringcenter back to the legacy PERS unit; the sending of (dual-tonemulti-frequency) DTMF commands from the legacy PERS unit to themonitoring station; and finally, the initialization of the two-way voicecall between the legacy PERS unit and the monitoring station. At thispoint, which typically takes 15 or more seconds, the monitoring centercan respond to a potential personal emergency.

The legacy PERS unit presents several problems. First, it takes a longertime than necessary to send an alert to a monitoring station relating toa personal emergency. The legacy PERS unit can take longer than 15seconds to execute when it is operating correctly. If the legacy PERSunit encounters problems with communicating with the monitoring station,then this time period can be even longer. Second, if the legacy PERSunit is unable to communicate with the monitoring station via the legacymeans of communication, then the legacy PERS unit might not be able toinform the monitoring station that a personal emergency is occurring.Because a personal emergency can become increasingly harmful as theamount of time elapses, it is desirable to increase the speed and thenumber of ways in which a PERS unit can communicate with the monitoringstation.

The typical legacy PERS unit also has a deficient design that does notallow for the expansion of functionality. A user might not be able todetermine the functionality of a PERS unit that would optimize a user'sexperience. For example, the user might want wireless wide area network(W-WAN) connectivity by itself, without wireless local area network(W-LAN) connectivity, or vice versa. Or the user might want to expandthe capabilities of the PERS unit.

It can also be difficult to pair a personal help button with a legacyPERS base unit.

In addition, the legacy PERS units are simple in their functionality anddo not allow for some typical social networking features including thesending and receiving of video, audio, and text with family members,care givers, or emergency responders. Because of this deficiency in thelegacy PERS units, the user is not motivated to keep track of his or herPERS unit. In addition, the legacy PERS unit is often avoided bypotential users until after they have had an accident. Consequently, thePERS unit might not be available when the user has a personal emergency.

The legacy PERS unit can be enhanced to address these problems. Theenhanced PERS (e-PERS) unit (i.e. base unit) can interface with acomputing service environment (CSE), and the CSE can interface with amonitoring center. Communication through the CSE can shorten the amountof time between the triggering of the alarm and the response of themonitoring center to the potential personal emergency.

The e-PERS unit can also have a modular design which allows for theexpansion of functionality. For example, the user can use wireless widearea network (W-WAN) connectivity by itself, without wireless local areanetwork (W-LAN) connectivity, or vice versa. Or the user might want toexpand the capabilities of the e-PERS unit. The user can also usedual-connectivity to avoid problems with signal strength of a specificradio access technology (RAT).

The e-PERS, through its interface with the computing serviceenvironment, can allow for remote programming or pairing of a personalhelp button. Some users can find it difficult to program or pair apersonal help button to function with a particular PERS base unit. Auser can program or pair the personal help button from a web portalassociated with the computing service environment. Or the user ormonitoring center can set the e-PERS unit to enter a programming mode toenable the personal help button to be paired by the monitoring center,without the need for assistance by the user.

The e-PERS unit can also be enhanced to provide for social networkingwith family members. By expanding the functionality of a PERS unit toinclude desirable elements to potential users, such as social mediaaspects, users can be motivated to purchase a PERS before they have anaccident. This can provide the user with additional incentives topurchase and use the e-PERS unit which can increase the chances that thee-PERS unit will be used if a personal emergency occurs.

FIG. 1 illustrates an enhanced personal emergency response system(e-PERS) unit 100. A standard or legacy base unit PERS typicallycomprises a console connected to a user's phone that can communicatewith a response center through a two-way voice and data signaling with acentral station. It is typically activated by a transmitter worn onperson.

The e-PERS unit 100 can include additional hardware and software thatcan enable the e-PERS unit to provide additional functionality to usersand home health care providers. The e-PERS unit can include a pluralityof radio access technologies (RATs) that can enable the e-PERS unit tocommunicate with multiple different types of wireless devices, via bothwireless local area networks (W-LANs) and wireless wide area networks(W-WANs). The e-PERS unit can also be configured communicate using theplain old telephone service (POTS).

Each RAT can include the use of one or more antennas. The antennas maybe located internal to the e-PERS unit. Alternatively, one or more RATscan share an antenna. The one or more antennas can be configured tocommunicate with a node or transmission station, such as an access point(AP), a base station (BS), an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generationNode B (gNB), a new radio (NR), a baseband unit (BBU), a remote radiohead (RRH), a remote radio equipment (RRE), a relay station (RS), aradio equipment (RE), a remote radio unit (RRU), a central processingmodule (CPM), or other type of W-WAN access point. The e-PERS unit cancommunicate using separate antennas for each wireless communicationstandard or shared antennas for multiple wireless communicationstandards. The wireless device can communicate in a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), and/or a WWAN.

The e-PERS unit 100 can also include a graphical user interface (GUI).In one example, the GUI can be viewed and controlled using a displayscreen 110 such as a touchscreen. The touchscreen can enable a user tointeract with the GUI. The display screen can be a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) screen, or other type of display screen such as an organiclight emitting diode (OLED) display. The display screen can beconfigured as a touch screen. The touch screen can use capacitive,resistive, or another type of touch screen technology. An applicationprocessor and a graphics processor can be coupled to internal memory toprovide processing and display capabilities. A non-volatile memory portcan also be used to provide data input/output options to a user orservice provider. The non-volatile memory port can also be used toexpand the memory capabilities of the wireless device. A virtualkeyboard can also be provided using the touch screen. The ability of theuser to interact with the GUI allows the e-PERS unit to be used for awide variety of things related to home healthcare, emergency responses,interaction with friends and family, fall detection, motion activity,temperature measurement, and so forth.

The e-PERS unit 100 can include a speaker 120 used to provide voice andaudio from the e-PERS unit. In addition, the e-PERS unit can alsoinclude a microphone 130. The microphone can be a simple microphoneconfigured to pick up audio signals. Alternatively, the microphone caninclude one or more digital or analog microphones that can be used tofilter audio signals and allow full duplex or half duplex communicationfrom the e-PERS unit 100. In addition, the digital microphones can beconfigured to provide more accurate voice communication to the e-PERSunit 100. The e-PERS unit 100 can be configured to provide voicerecognition to enable the e-PERS unit to be operated using voice.Alternatively, the e-PERS unit can be connected to a computing serviceenvironment (CSE) and a CSE-based program can be used to provide voicerecognition capabilities for the e-PERS unit. In one embodiment, amonitoring center can control the e-PERS unit and configure the e-PERSunit to be in either a simplex mode (in which the user or the monitoringcenter can either talk or listen) or a duplex mode (in which themonitoring center and the user can both talk and listen at the sametime).

The e-PERS unit 100 can also include a help button 140. The help buttoncan be configured to send a predetermined message to a selecteddestination, such as an emergency response center. The emergencyresponse center can then use the speaker 120 and/or display screen 110to respond to the emergency signal, sent by the user, and to communicatewith the user. The predetermined message can include data that can beused by the CSE and/or the emergency response center. This will bediscussed more fully in the proceeding paragraphs.

The e-PERS unit 100 can also include one or more processors and memorythat can be used to operate software, firmware, and hardwarefunctionality at the e-PERS unit. The firmware of one or more processorsand memory can be upgraded as new software and firmware functionalitybecomes available. This can significantly reduce the need for frequenthardware upgrades to the e-PERS unit and reduce costs to healthcareproviders and the users. Additional hardware and functionality can alsobe included in the e-PERS unit. The additional hardware andfunctionality, along with further details regarding the e-PERS unit,will be disclosed in more details in the proceeding paragraphs.

In one embodiment, the display screen 110 can be set at an angle thatenables people to view the screen from a number of locations, such asstanding, sitting, or lying in a bed or on the couch. For example, thedisplay screen 110 can be set at an angle of approximately 65 degreesrelative to the surface on which the e-PERS unit 100 is set. Thisexample is not intended to be limiting. The display screen can be angledbetween 5 degrees and 90 degrees relative to the surface, depending onthe desired use of the e-PERS unit.

In one embodiment, the e-PERS unit 100 can include modular connectionpoints 150, 160, 170. The modular connection points 150, 160, 170 canallow a relatively low cost PERS to be expanded with W-LAN communicationcapabilities, wired connections such as a POTS connection or a CAT 5connection, and/or other desired types of expansion modules. The modularconnection points 150, 160, 170 can include a connection point for amodule containing a W-WAN transceiver to be connected with the e-PERSunit to wirelessly send and receive W-WAN signals. The modularconnection points can also include a connection point for a modulecontaining a W-LAN transceiver to be connected with the e-PERS unit towirelessly send and receive W-LAN signals, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.The modular connection points 150, 160, 170 can also include aconnection point for a module with the capability to send and receivesignals via plain old telephone service (POTS). The modular connectionpoints 150, 160, 170 can also include other modules to expand thefunctionality of the e-PERS unit as desired by a user or a health careprovider.

In another example, the e-PERS unit 100 can also include dual subscriberidentity module (SIM) slots 180, 190 that allow for dual-connectivity toa provider of a cellular communication system. Each provider can own andoperate certain cell towers at selected locations. The selectedlocations may be near or far from the e-PERS unit. Because the signalstrength can vary, depending on the location of the wireless carrier'scell towers, it can be useful to have the option of using multiplecarriers. For example, if carrier A has a higher signal strength atlocation X than carrier B does at location X, then the dual carrierfeature can be used to utilize carrier A at location X. However, if theuser moves to a different location, Y, and the signal strength ofcarrier A is lower than the signal strength of carrier B at location Y,then the dual connectivity feature can be used to utilize carrier B atlocation Y. In addition, it may be possible to send selected datathrough one or more carriers based on real time signal strength. Forexample, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) can be used todetermine which carrier has the best signal strength in real time, andadjust communications accordingly. Therefore, dual-connectivity canreduce the chances that the signal strength of a W-WAN communicationsystem will be too low at a particular time or location and increase theprobability of a successful communication using the W-WAN communicationsystem.

In order to use an e-PERS unit 100 with dual connectivity, it may benecessary to have a contract with two service providers at the sametime. The contract may be based on data usage associated with eachservice provider. For example, if one service provider is relatively faraway, typically has a low RSSI, and is infrequently used, the fee forusing that service provider may be relatively small. Alternatively, ifthe two service providers are used relatively equally, the cost of eachservice provider may be relatively equal. The overall cost of using twoservice providers may be greater than the use of a single serviceprovider. However, the benefits to a dealer or healthcare provider ofhaving an e-PERS unit with dual connectivity, as previously described,can be greater than the additional cost.

FIG. 2 illustrates an e-PERS unit 200 configured with a radio accesstechnology (RAT) comprising a W-WAN transceiver to wirelessly send andreceive W-WAN signals 210 with a base station 220 in a cellular network.In one example, the e-PERS can be configured to communicate with acellular network using a third generation partnership project (3GPP)long term evolution (LTE) configured RAT. Examples of current 3GPP LTEreleases include Release 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 13 or 14. A RAT based on othertypes of W-WAN standards, such as the IEEE 802.16 standard, may be usedas well. Examples of currently released IEEE 802.16 standards includeIEEE 802.16e and 802.16m. One or more of the RATs can also be configuredto communicate via third generation (3G) or 2^(nd) generation (2G)cellular communications standards. In addition, the e-PERS can beconfigured to communicate using fifth generation (5G) cellular standardsto enable broadband communication, as well as energy efficient, smalldata type communications using the internet of things (IOT) or othertypes of machine type communications (MTC).

The e-PERS unit 200 can include one or more W-WAN configured RATs toenable communication from the e-PERS unit to locations outside of thehome or building in which the e-PERS is located. For example, wirelesscommunication between the e-PERS unit and an emergency response centeror a home healthcare provider can be accomplished using the W-WAN. Thiscan enable the e-PERS to be used at substantially any location, withoutthe need for a POTS landline or other type of wired connection. In oneembodiment, the e-PERS unit can include both a wired connection, such asPOTS, and a W-WAN connection. If one of the connections is not properlyfunctioning, the other connection can act as a backup. Alternatively,the W-WAN connection can be used as a primary connection. The W-WANconnection can enable the e-PERS unit to communicate voice and data witha CSE and/or an emergency response center, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 illustrates an e-PERS unit 300 configured with one or more RATsto communicate via a W-WAN, W-LAN or a wireless personal area network(W-PAN). The e-PERS 300 can be configured to communicate with one ormore wireless devices 310, 320 through a direct connection, a Near-FieldCommunication (NFC) configured RAT, a Bluetooth v4.0, Bluetooth LowEnergy, Bluetooth v4.1, or Bluetooth v4.2 configured RAT, an Ultra HighFrequency (UHF) configured RAT, an Institute of Electronics andElectrical Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, or IEEE 802.11ad configured RAT, a TV WhiteSpace Band (TVWS) configured RAT, or any other industrial, scientificand medical (ISM) radio band configured RAT. Examples of such ISM bandsinclude 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 4.9 GHz, 5 GHz, 5.9 GHz, or 61 GHz. The use ofhigh frequency bands can allow data to pass at high rates between thee-PERS unit 300 and multiple wireless devices 310, 320. The W-LAN and/orW-PAN can also be used to backup communications over the W-WAN.

In one embodiment, the e-PERS unit 300 can be operated as a base e-PERSthat is typically configured to be placed at a single location. The basee-PERS is typically plugged in to a wall power source. The base e-PERScan also be connected to a wired network connection, such as a categorytype 5 (CAT 5) or category type 6 (CAT 6) cable, a radio frequency (RF)cable, a shielded cable, or another type of wired connection. The basee-PERS can also include a battery that can be used to provide backuppower to the e-PERS in the event of a power outage. The battery can be aprimary battery or a rechargeable battery, such as a lead-acid, nickelcadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, oranother desired type of battery. The battery size can be selected toprovide a desired backup time. For example, the battery size may beselected to provide power to the e-PERS for 1 hour, 5 hours, 24 hours,36 hours, 90 hours, 172 hours, or another desired time frame. In oneembodiment, the functionality of the e-PERS may be reduced when thee-PERS is operating using the battery backup. The base e-PERS caninclude an openable compartment in which the backup battery is located.This can enable a user or healthcare professional to replace the batterywithin the e-PERS. The e-PERS can include battery overcharge anddischarge protection to maximize a life of the battery.

One or more W-WAN, W-LAN or W-PAN RATs in the e-PERS unit 300 can beused to communicate with one or more wireless devices. For example, aW-LAN 315 or W-PAN 325 connection can be used to communicate between abase e-PERS and a personal help button 320. The personal help button 320may be a standard PERS button, such as a fall risk pendant, which issimply configured to communicate an emergency signal and/or audiobetween the button and a base e-PERS. The personal help button can be amobile button, configured to be worn by a user, or a fixed button,designed to be placed in high risk areas such as in a shower or near auser's bed.

In one embodiment, the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 can be configured todock with a mobile PERS or mobile e-PERS 310. The docking station canprovide power and/or data communication between the e-PERS and themobile PERS or mobile e-PERS.

In one embodiment, the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 can be configured tocommunicate with a plurality of personal help buttons 320. Each of thepersonal help buttons 320 can include an emergency communication button.The emergency communication button can be a physical button, or avirtual button on a touch screen or other type of electrical detectiondevice. Each of the personal help buttons 320 can include a speaker 322and a microphone 324. When the emergency communication button isactivated at the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 or personal help buttons, thespeakers and microphones on each of the devices can be activated to moreeasily receive sound from the user and provide audio to the user.

The personal help button 320, when activated by the user, cancommunicate with the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300. The e-PERS unit 100,200, 300 can communicate with a computing service environment (CSE) or amonitoring station in order to notify the monitoring station that apersonal emergency is occurring. The personal help button can be apendant worn around the neck, a small device worn on a belt, awristband, a mobile phone, a tablet, or any other electronic device thatis able to send a desired signal to the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300.

In another example, a user's personal help button can be remotelyprogrammed to pair with the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300. Each personalhelp button can be configured to transmit a specific RF code associatedwith a serial number of the personal help button. In one example, theserial number of the personal help button can be entered into acomputing service environment. Each personal help button can have theserial number on the outside of the button or otherwise associated withthe button. A person can login to a web portal of a computer serviceenvironment. The person can identify the user's e-PERS unit 100, 200,300 in the web portal by searching for the serial number of the e-PERSunit 100, 200, 300, the user's name, or the ID of the e-PERS unit 100,200, 300. The person can enter the serial number of the personal helpbutton into the appropriate field within the web portal. The computingservice environment can find an RF code associated with a specificpersonal help button in a database. The RF code can be sent to thee-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 immediately or the RF code can be sent to thee-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 upon the next Ping from the e-PERS unit 100,200, 300. The e-PERS unit can then associate a received RF code with aspecific personal help button. The specific personal help button can beassociated with a specific use or location for a user. For example, afirst personal help button can be a pendant worn by a user, and a secondpersonal help button can be at a fixed location in the user's shower.When the e-PERS unit receives the specific RF code from the personalhelp button, it can be determined where the personal help buttonassociated with the RF code is located or used. Selected information,such as the RF code or personal help button serial number, can then bepassed on by the e-PERS unit to the network 330.

In another example, a command can be sent from the network 330, such asthe computing service environment, to the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 thatplaces the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 into a programming mode. In oneexample, a person can login to a web portal of the computing serviceenvironment. The person can search for the user's e-PERS unit 100, 200,300 in the web portal by the serial number of the e-PERS unit 100, 200,300, the user's name, or the ID of the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300. Theperson can instruct the e-PERS unit by entering the appropriateinstruction in the computing service environment. An audible alert canconfirm that the e-PERS unit is in programming mode. A user can activatethe personal help button and another audible alert will confirm that thepersonal help button is paired with the e-PERS unit.

The speakers 322 and microphone 324 can be configured to allow both thepersonal help button 320 and e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 to use soundcanceling algorithms so that there are no strong echoes or double voicesounds when multiple devices are operating simultaneously. The abilityto operate multiple personal help buttons simultaneously can enhance theability to communicate with a user and to respond accurately to anemergency communication.

In addition, the e-PERS unit 300 can be configured to communicate withone or more wireless devices, such as user equipment (UEs) or mobilestations (MS). The wireless devices can include cell phones, tablets,tablet computers, laptop computers, desktop computers, and other typesof computing devices. The wireless devices can be configured tocommunicate using a selected RAT, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. In oneembodiment, the wireless devices can be paired with the e-PERS.

The wireless devices can be used to communicate messages, text messages,audio, pictures, video, and data to the e-PERS unit 300. The wirelessdevices can communicate these messages, text messages, audio, pictures,video, and data to the network 330, such as a computing serviceenvironment, via a graphical user interface (GUI) operating through anapplication program interface (API). The network can comprise one ormore servers connected via a private or public network, such as a VVWANor an internet connection. In another example, the network can comprisea computing service environment. The network can then communicate thisinformation to the e-PERS, or the information can be retrieved by thee-PERS unit from the network, such as the computing service environment.The use of an API allows different types of wireless devices andmonitoring stations to communicate information to an e-PERS unit. Thisallows different health care providers using different operating systemsand equipment to still be able to efficiently communicate with thee-PERS unit via the network, such as a computing service environment.This can also allow the user's family members, caregivers, friends andother contacts to interact with the user via a GUI that operates throughan API.

The display screen of the e-PERS can be used to display time, date, areceived signal strength indicator for one or more RATs, weatherinformation, battery information, for the internal battery, family slideshows, dealer logos, menu driven options, or other types of customizableon-screen functions.

For example, a healthcare worker, or other type of party, located nearan e-PERS unit 300 can update the software or firmware of the e-PERS,send a message to the e-PERS, and/or program the e-PERS to provide amessage, image, or video for the user of the e-PERS. In one example, ahealthcare worker can use a cell phone or tablet to configure apatient's e-PERS to provide healthcare information to a user of thee-PERS. The healthcare information can include messages, reminders,images, or video instructions related to the patient's healthcare.Examples of healthcare information can include timely reminders to takemedicine, change bandages, contact a healthcare provider, visit thedoctor or a healthcare provider, and so forth. This information can becommunicated via a GUI operating through an API to communicate theinformation to the network 330, which can then communicate theinformation to the e-PERS unit 300.

The W-LAN and/or W-PAN wireless RAT connections 315, 325 can also beused by non-healthcare workers to send information to the e-PERS unit300. For example, family members or friends can use programs operatingon mobile devices 310 to communicate desired information to the e-PERS.This may include healthcare type information, such as reminders to takemedicines or go to doctor's appointments. For example, a family membermay use a cell phone to setup reminders on the e-PERS to remind a userto take non-prescription or prescription medicines. Family and friendscan also send pictures and social media information to a user fordisplay on the e-PERS unit. This information can be communicated via aGUI operating through an API to communicate the information to thenetwork 330, which can then communicate the information to the e-PERSunit 300.

In another example, a remotely located healthcare worker, family, orfriends can send healthcare information to the e-PERS for display to theuser using the W-WAN. For example, using an app operating on a cellphone or tablet, a cloud based program, a web portal, or a remoteserver, a remotely located healthcare worker can send healthcareinformation for display by the e-PERS using the W-WAN configured RAT.Family or friends may use a web portal (i.e. a graphical user interfaceoperating in a web browser on the internet) to send pictures, videos,social media information, or healthcare related information for displayto the user on the e-PERS. The web portal can have multiple backups andbe configured to operate a very high percentage of time, such as 99%,99.99%, 99.9999%, and so forth. This information can also becommunicated via a GUI operating through an API to communicate theinformation to the network 330, which can then communicate theinformation to the e-PERS unit 300.

Healthcare workers, family, friends, and the user of the e-PERS can alsosetup and operate the e-PERS using the touch screen. The e-PERS caninclude a GUI and operating system that allow reminders to be set, aswell as images or other types of audio visual information to bedisplayed in the background, foreground, or over a portion of thescreen.

In summary, the functionality and operations of the e-PERS unit 100,200, 300 can be controlled and operated locally using a touch screen onthe e-PERS, or a W-LAN connection or W-PAN connection with a remotedevice, or controlled and operated remotely using a W-WAN connection orthe W-LAN connection or W-PAN connection and a web portal or other typeof program operating in a computing service environment. The touchscreen can enable a user to interact with a response center, in theevent of an emergency. For example, the user may not be able to talk,but may still be able to touch a portion of the screen. This can enablethe response center to obtain additional information from a user in theevent of an emergency. For example, a user may select from a screen thatthey are choking, or having a heart attack. Emergency responders canthen be prepared when they arrive and provide a quicker, better responsefor the user. The touch screen may also be helpful to reduce the numberof false alarms.

Accordingly, the e-PERS unit 100, 200, 300 can provide additionalfunctionality over merely enabling a user to report a medical emergency.The e-PERS can operate as an intelligent telehealth hub that cancommunicate with other hubs and allow healthcare providers, family,friends, and/or users to provide information that improve a user'shealthcare.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing service 400that may be used to execute and manage a number of computing instances404 a-d. In particular, the computing service 400 depicted illustratesone environment in which the technology described herein may be used.The computing service 400 may be one type of environment that includesvarious virtualized service resources that may be used, for instance, tohost computing instances 404 a-d.

The computing service 400 may be capable of delivery of computing,storage and networking capacity as a software service to a community ofend recipients. In one example, the computing service 400 may beestablished for an organization by or on behalf of the organization.That is, the computing service 400 may offer a “private cloudenvironment.” In another example, the computing service 400 may supporta multi-tenant environment, wherein a plurality of customers may operateindependently (i.e., a public cloud environment). Generally speaking,the computing service 400 may provide the following models:Infrastructure as a Service (“IaaS”), Platform as a Service (“PaaS”),and/or Software as a Service (“SaaS”). Other models may be provided. Forthe laaS model, the computing service 400 may offer computers asphysical or virtual machines and other resources. The virtual machinesmay be run as guests by a hypervisor, as described further below. ThePaaS model delivers a computing platform that may include an operatingsystem, programming language execution environment, database, and webserver.

Application developers may develop and run their software solutions onthe computing service platform without incurring the cost of buying andmanaging the underlying hardware and software. The SaaS model allowsinstallation and operation of application software in the computingservice 400. End customers may access the computing service 400 usingnetworked client devices, such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets,smartphones, etc. running web browsers or other lightweight clientapplications, for example. Those familiar with the art will recognizethat the computing service 400 may be described as a “cloud”environment.

The particularly illustrated computing service 400 may include aplurality of server computers 402 a-d. While four server computers areshown, any number may be used, and large data centers may includethousands of server computers. The computing service 400 may providecomputing resources for executing computing instances 404 a-d. Computinginstances 404 a-d may, for example, be virtual machines. A virtualmachine may be an instance of a software implementation of a machine(i.e. a computer) that executes applications like a physical machine. Inthe example of a virtual machine, each of the server computers 402 a-dmay be configured to execute an instance manager 408 a-d capable ofexecuting the instances. The instance manager 408 a-d may be ahypervisor, virtual machine monitor (VMM), or another type of programconfigured to enable the execution of multiple computing instances 404a-d on a single server. Additionally, each of the computing instances404 a-d may be configured to execute one or more applications.

One or more server computers 414 and 416 may be reserved to executesoftware components for managing the operation of the computing service400 and the computing instances 404 a-d. For example, a server computer414 may execute a computing instance placement manager that may performfunctions, such as querying the server computers 402 a-d for availablecomputing slots and computing group state information, as well asdetermining a placement of a computing instance 404 a-d in an availablecomputing slot.

A server computer 416 may execute a management component 418. A customermay access the management component 418 to configure various aspects ofthe operation of the computing instances 404 a-d purchased by acustomer. For example, the customer may setup computing instances 404a-d and make changes to the configuration of the computing instances 404a-d.

A deployment component 422 may be used to assist customers in thedeployment of computing instances 404 a-d. The deployment component 422may have access to account information associated with the computinginstances 404 a-d, such as the name of an owner of the account, creditcard information, country of the owner, etc. The deployment component422 may receive a configuration from a customer that includes datadescribing how computing instances 404 a-d may be configured. Forexample, the configuration may include an operating system, provide oneor more applications to be installed in computing instances 404 a-d,provide scripts and/or other types of code to be executed forconfiguring computing instances 404 a-d, provide cache logic specifyinghow an application cache should be prepared, and other types ofinformation. The deployment component 422 may utilize thecustomer-provided configuration and cache logic to configure, prime, andlaunch computing instances 404 a-d. The configuration, cache logic, andother information may be specified by a customer accessing themanagement component 418 or by providing this information directly tothe deployment component 422.

Customer account information 424 may include any desired informationassociated with a customer of the multi-tenant environment. For example,the customer account information may include a unique identifier for acustomer, a customer address, billing information, licensinginformation, customization parameters for launching instances,scheduling information, etc. As described above, the customer accountinformation 424 may also include security information used in encryptionof asynchronous responses to API requests. By “asynchronous” it is meantthat the API response may be made at any time after the initial requestand with a different network connection.

A network 410 may be utilized to interconnect the computing service 400and the server computers 402 a-d, 416. The network 410 may be a localarea network (LAN) and may be connected to a Wide Area Network (WAN) 412or the Internet, so that end customers may access the computing service400. The network topology illustrated in FIG. 4 has been simplified,many more networks and networking devices may be utilized tointerconnect the various computing systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 5 provides an example of the communication between a legacy PERSunit and a monitoring station. The legacy PERS unit can include an alarmthat can be triggered by a user. In response to the triggering of thealarm, a voice or data connection can be formed between the PERS unitand the monitoring station. The monitoring station can initiate ahandshake protocol with the legacy PERS unit. In response to thehandshake protocol, several dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) commandscan be sent back to the monitoring station. At this point in theprocess, a 2-way voice call can be initiated between the user and themonitoring station. This process can take longer than 15 seconds becauseof the nature of the steps involved.

FIG. 6 provides an example diagram of the communication flow between ane-PERS unit 610, a computing service environment 620, and a monitoringstation 630. A user can report an emergency by activating the alarmfeature at the personal help button 605 and/or the e-PERS unit 610. Theuser can also activate different devices connected to the e-PERS unit610. As previously discussed, the personal help button can be configuredas a pendant worn around the neck, a small device worn on a belt, awristband, a mobile phone, a fixed location device, or any other devicethat is able to be activated by a user and activate the e-PERS unit.Upon activation, a general message can be transmitted from the e-PERSunit to the computing service environment 620. The general message caninclude an identification of the e-PERS unit and/or an identification ofthe personal help button. The ID can allow the computing serviceenvironment 620 to identify the e-PERS unit or personal help button thattransmitted the general message. Based on this identification, thecomputing service environment 620 can create a unit profile message andan incident record can be created. The unit profile message can betransmitted back to the e-PERS unit 610 from the computing serviceenvironment 620. After receiving the unit profile message from thecomputing service environment 620, the e-PERS unit 610 can use theinformation provided by the CSE in the unit profile message to open avoice channel and/or data channel with the monitoring station 630. Thevoice channel can be configured using voice over LTE (VoLTE), voice overinternet protocol (VoIP) or a 3G backup if VoLTE or VoIP is notavailable. A caller ID associated with the e-PERS unit can be sent fromthe e-PERS unit to the monitoring station. The monitoring station 630can use the caller ID and/or the device ID of the e-PERS unit to processthe voice channel. This process can take less than one second tocomplete.

FIG. 7 provides another example diagram of the data flow between ane-PERS unit 710, a computing service environment 720, and a monitoringstation 730. A user can report an emergency by activating the alarmfeature of the e-PERS unit 710 either directly at the e-PERS unit, orvia a signal from a personal help button communicated to the e-PERSunit. Upon activation, a general message can be transmitted from thee-PERS unit to the computing service environment 720. The generalmessage can include an identification of the e-PERS unit and/or thepersonal help button that was activated to report the emergency. The IDof the e-PERS unit and/or personal help button can allow the computingservice environment 620 to identify the e-PERS unit that transmitted thegeneral message. Based on this identification, the computing serviceenvironment 620 can create a unit profile message and an incident recordcan be created. The unit profile message can be transmitted from theback to the e-PERS unit 710 from the computing service environment 720.After the computing service environment 720 has transmitted the unitprofile message to the e-PERS unit 710, an internet protocol (IP)packet, containing the e-PERS unit ID, can be transmitted from thecomputing service environment 720 to the monitoring station 730. At themonitoring station 730, the IP packet, containing the e-PERS unit ID,can be used to associate the e-PERS ID with the caller ID. After the IPpacket has been transmitted to the monitoring station, a voice channelcan be directly opened from the e-PERS unit 710 to the monitoringstation 730 based on the information provided by the CSE to the e-PERSunit in the unit profile message. The voice channel can be configuredusing voice over LTE (VoLTE), voice over internet protocol (VoIP) or a3G backup if VoLTE or VoIP is not available. A caller ID associated withthe e-PERS unit can be sent from the e-PERS unit to the monitoringstation. The e-PERS unit ID can be associated with the caller ID at themonitoring station. Optionally, after the voice channel has been openedto the monitoring station 730, the monitoring station 730 can open avoice channel to the e-PERS unit 710. As another option, the monitoringstation 730 can issue DTMF commands from the monitoring station 730 tothe e-PERS unit 710.

FIG. 8 provides another example diagram of the communication flowbetween an e-PERS unit 810, a computing service environment 820, and amonitoring station 830. A user can report an emergency by activating thealarm feature of the e-PERS unit 810 using the e-PERS unit itself, or aconnected personal help button. Upon activation, a general message canbe transmitted from the e-PERS unit to the computing service environment820. The general message can include an identification of the e-PERSunit and/or the personal help button. The ID of the e-PERS unit canallow the computing service environment 620 to identify the e-PERS unitthat transmitted the general message. Based on this identification, thecomputing service environment 820 can create a unit profile message andan incident record can be created. The unit profile message can betransmitted back to the e-PERS unit 810 from the computing serviceenvironment 820. After the computing service environment 820 hastransmitted the unit profile message to the e-PERS unit 810, an internetprotocol (IP) packet, containing the e-PERS unit ID, can be transmittedfrom the computing service environment 820 to the monitoring station830. After the IP packet has been transmitted to the monitoring station,a voice channel can be directly opened from the e-PERS unit 810 to themonitoring station 830. The voice channel can be configured using voiceover LTE (VoLTE), voice over internet protocol (VoIP) or a 3G backup ifVoLTE or VoIP is not available. A caller ID associated with the e-PERSunit can be sent from the e-PERS unit to the monitoring station. At themonitoring station 830, the IP packet, containing the e-PERS unit ID,can be used to associate the e-PERS ID with the caller ID. Optionally,after the voice channel has been opened to the monitoring station 830,the monitoring station 830 can open a voice channel to the e-PERS unit810. As another option, the monitoring station 830 can issue DTMFcommands from the monitoring station 830 to the e-PERS unit 810. Inresponse to receiving these DTMF commands from the monitoring station830, the e-PERS unit 810 can issue an optional reply to the monitoringstation 830. The monitoring station 830 can further respond to thisoptional reply by transmitting DTMF commands to the e-PERS unit.

The processes referenced above in FIG. 6, 7, 8 can also include aback-up process in which the legacy process referenced in FIG. 5 can beused to establish communication between an e-PERS unit and a monitoringstation. For example, if the computing service environment 620, 720, 820is unable to communicate with the e-PERS unit or the monitoring station830, then the back-up legacy process can be used instead. It is notdesirable to use the legacy process because of the difference in speedbetween the legacy process and the processes referenced in FIGS. 6, 7,and 8. In addition, the capability of the e-PERS unit can besignificantly reduced without communication with the computing serviceenvironment 820. However, the legacy process can be utilized by thee-PERS unit nonetheless as a backup service.

The general message referenced above in FIG. 6, 7, 8 can comprise manydifferent types including: Auth, OK, Ping, Message Waiting, Error, Get,Profile, Profile ACK, RFCodes, RFCodes Ack, EVENT, Download Speech, RFCodes Start, ForcePing, GoToMode, GoToMode ACK, and HELP.

An Auth general message can contain an encryption key and the e-PERSunit serial number. It can also include: a message count; the source(such as the e-PERS unit or the computing service environment), and aJavaScript Object Notation (JSON) object. It can be the first messagesent to the computing service environment per connection. An OK messagecan be an acknowledgment message.

A Ping message can contain status bytes about the state of the unit.These status bytes can include information about: the active subscriberidentity module (SIM) slots; the AC power status; the type of W-WANconnection; and the battery charge level. The Ping message can alsoinclude information about the received signal strength indication (RSSI)or signal strength.

A message waiting message can be sent to the e-PERS unit from thecomputing service environment. When the e-PERS unit receives thismessage, then a message can be waiting for the e-PERS unit. The messagewaiting message can be sent as a response to a Ping message or can besent to the e-PERS unit when information has changed in the computingservice environment in reference to the particular e-PERS unit.

An error message can be sent by the e-PERS unit or the computing serviceenvironment to indicate that an error has occurred. A get message can besent by the e-PERS unit to request the computing service environment tosend the next waiting message. A Profile message can be sent from thee-PERS unit to the computing service environment and can contain thecurrent profile stored on the computing service environment. A ProfileACK message can be sent from the e-PERS unit to the computing serviceenvironment acknowledging that the profile message has been received bythe computing service environment.

An RFCodes message can be sent from the computing service environment orthe e-PERS unit and contains RFCodes, types, and zones. When the messageis received, the current RF data can be replaced with the data in themessage. An RFCodes ACK message can be sent from the e-PERS unit to thecomputing service environment acknowledging that the RFCodes have beenreceived. A Download Speech message can be sent from the computingservice environment to the e-PERS unit instructing the e-PERS unit todownload a file from a web server. An RFCodes Start message can be sentfrom the e-PERS unit to the computing service environment instructing itto prepare to receive RFCodes messages.

A ForcePing message can be sent to the e-PERS unit from the computingservice environment requesting the e-PERS unit to issue a ping message.A GoToMode message can be sent to the e-PERS unit from the computingservice environment requesting the e-PERS unit to enter a specific mode.A GoToMode Ack message can be an acknowledgment that a GoToMode messagehas been received.

A HELP message can be sent to various destinations as referenced abovein FIG. 6, 7, 8 to indicate that a user has a personal emergency.

Another example, in FIG. 9 provides a flow chart 900 showingfunctionality of a computing service environment that can be configuredto communicate with an e-PERS unit and a monitoring station. Thecomputing service environment can comprise one or more processors. Theseone or more processors can be configured to receive a general messagerelated to a personal emergency from a e-PERS unit, wherein the generalmessage includes an identification (ID) of the e-PERS unit, as in block910. These one or more processors can be further configured to send aunit profile message from the e-PERS CSE to the e-PERS unit, as in block920. These one or more processors can be further configured to send aninstruction to the e-PERS unit or the monitoring station to open a voicechannel that includes a caller ID between the e-PERS unit and themonitoring station, as in block 930. These one or more processors can befurther configured to send an internet protocol (IP) packet containingthe e-PERS ID to the monitoring station to enable the monitoring stationto associate the e-PERS ID with the caller ID of the voice channelbetween the e-PERS unit and the monitoring station, as in block 940. Thecomputing service environment can further comprise a memory device incommunication with the one or more processors that is configured tostore the unit profile message for the e-PERS unit, as in block 950.

Another example, in FIG. 10 provides a flow chart 1000 showingfunctionality of an e-PERS unit that can be configured to communicatewith computing service environment and a monitoring station. The e-PERSunit can comprise one or more processors. These one or more processorscan be configured to transmit a general message related to a personalemergency to a personal emergency response system (PERS) computingservice environment (CSE), wherein the general message includes anidentification (ID) of the e-PERS unit to enable the e-PERS CSE to sendthe ID of the e-PERS unit to a monitoring station, as in block 1010.These one or more processors can be further configured to receive a unitprofile message from the e-PERS CSE for the e-PERS unit, as in block1020. These one or more processors can be further configured to open avoice channel to the monitoring station in response to receiving thegeneral message from the e-PERS CSE, as in block 1030. These one or moreprocessors can be further configured to open a voice channel from themonitoring station in response to receiving the ID of the e-PERS unit atthe monitoring station, as in block 1040. The e-PERS unit can furthercomprise a display screen configured to display information includinginformation received from the e-PERS CSE, and a personal help buttonconfigured to transmit the general message via the one or moreprocessors to the e-PERS CSE. The e-PERS CSE can send and receive datafrom a plurality of e-PERS devices. In one embodiment, hundreds orthousands of e-PERS devices can communicate with the e-PERS CSE. Avariety of different types of data can be communicated between thee-PERS CSE relating to the health status of each e-PERS device, clientinformation, billing information, social information, and health serviceprovider information, as previously discussed.

EXAMPLES

The following examples pertain to specific technology embodiments andpoint out specific features, elements, or actions that can be used orotherwise combined in achieving such embodiments.

Example 1 includes a personal emergency response system (PERS) computingservice environment (CSE) comprising: one or more processors configuredto: receive a general message related to a personal emergency from anenhanced PERS (e-PERS) unit, wherein the general message includes anidentification (ID) of one or more of the e-PERS unit or a personal helpbutton; send a unit profile message from the e-PERS CSE to the e-PERSunit; send an instruction to the e-PERS unit or the monitoring stationto open a voice channel that includes a caller ID between the e-PERSunit and the monitoring station; send an internet protocol (IP) packetcontaining the e-PERS ID to the monitoring station to enable themonitoring station to associate the e-PERS ID with the caller ID of thevoice channel between the e-PERS unit and the monitoring station; and amemory device in communication with the one or more processors that isconfigured to store the unit profile message for the e-PERS unit.

Example 2 includes the e-PERS CSE of Example 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to receive a ping message from thee-PERS unit, wherein the ping message includes data relating to a statusof the e-PERS unit.

Example 3 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 2, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to send a message waitingmessage to the e-PERS unit to inform the e-PERS unit that a message iswaiting for the e-PERS unit.

Example 4 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 3, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to send an error messageto the e-PERS unit or receive an error message from the e-PERS unit toindicate that an error has occurred in a last interaction between thee-PERS unit and the e-PERS CSE.

Example 5 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 4, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to receive a get messagefrom the e-PERS unit, wherein the get message requests the server tosend a message waiting for the e-PERS unit to the e-PERS unit.

Example 6 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 5, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to receive a profileacknowledgement (ACK) message from the e-PERS unit, wherein the profileACK message indicates that the unit profile message has been received bythe e-PERS unit.

Example 7 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 6, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to receive a radiofrequency (RF) codes message from the e-PERS unit or send an RF codesmessage to the e-PERS unit.

Example 8 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Example 1 to 7, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to receive a radiofrequency (RF) code acknowledgement (ACK) message from the e-PERS unitto acknowledge that the RF codes message is received.

Example 9 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 8, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to send a download messageto the e-PERS unit instructing the e-PERS unit to download a file fromthe e-PERS CSE or a selected server, wherein the file is one or more ofan audio file, a text file, a picture file, or a multimedia file.

Example 10 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 9, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to send a radiofrequency (RF) Codes start message to the e-PERS unit, instructing thee-PERS unit to prepare to receive an RF Codes message.

Example 11 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 10, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to send a force pingmessage to the e-PERS unit to request the e-PERS unit to ping the e-PERSCSE within a predetermined time period.

Example 12 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 11, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to send a go-to-modemessage to the e-PERS unit, requesting the e-PERS unit to enter aspecific mode.

Example 13 includes the e-PERS CSE of any of Examples 1 to 12, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to send one or more ofa voice message, a text message, or a video message to the e-PERS unitto be displayed on a display screen of the e-PERS unit.

Example 14 includes an enhanced personal emergency response system(e-PERS) unit, comprising: one or more processors configured to:transmit a general message related to a personal emergency to a personalemergency response system (PERS) computing service environment (CSE),wherein the general message includes an identification (ID) of thee-PERS unit to enable the e-PERS CSE to send the ID of the e-PERS unitto a monitoring station; receive a unit profile message from the e-PERSCSE for the e-PERS unit; and place the voice call to the monitoringstation in response to receiving the general message from the e-PERSCSE; or receive a voice call from the monitoring station in response toreceiving the ID of the e-PERS unit at the monitoring station; and adisplay screen configured to display information including informationreceived from the e-PERS CSE; and a base unit help button configured totransmit the general message via the one or more processors to thee-PERS CSE.

Example 15 includes e-PERS unit of Example 14, further comprising atransceiver configured to communicate using a wireless wide area network(W-WAN) radio access technology (RAT) standard or a wireless local areanetwork (W-LAN) radio access technology standard.

Example 16 includes the e-PERS unit of any of Examples 14 to 15, furthercomprising a modular expansion, wherein the modular expansion isconfigured to receive a wireless wide area network (W-WAN) radio accesstechnology (RAT) standard module.

Example 17 includes the e-PERS unit of any of Examples 14 to 16, furthercomprising a modular expansion, wherein the modular expansion isconfigured to receive a wireless local area network (W-LAN) radio accesstechnology (RAT) standard module.

Example 18 includes the e-PERS unit of any of Examples 14 to 17, furthercomprising further comprising a modular expansion, wherein the modularexpansion is configured to receive a plain old telephone service (POTS)receptor.

Example 19 includes the e-PERS unit of any of Examples 14 to 18, whereinthe e-PERS unit is configured to communicate with one or more personalhelp buttons.

Example 20 includes the e-PERS unit of any of Examples 14-19, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to receive informationabout the type of communication that is received, wherein the type ofcommunication includes one or more of: voice communication or datacommunication.

Example 21 includes at least one non-transitory machine readable storagemedium having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions whenexecuted by one or more processors at a personal emergency responsesystem (PERS) computing service environment (CSE) perform the following:receiving, at the e-PERS CSE, a general message related to a personalemergency from an enhanced PERS (e-PERS) unit, wherein the generalmessage includes an identification (ID) of the e-PERS unit; sending, atthe e-PERS CSE, a unit profile message from the e-PERS CSE to the e-PERSunit; sending, at the e-PERS CSE, an instruction to the e-PERS unit orthe monitoring station to open a voice channel that includes a caller IDbetween the e-PERS unit and the monitoring station; and sending, at thee-PERS CSE, an internet protocol (IP) packet containing the e-PERS ID tothe monitoring station to enable the monitoring station to associate thee-PERS ID with the caller ID of the voice channel between the e-PERSunit and the monitoring station.

Example 22 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of Example 21, wherein the instructions when executed byone or more processors at the e-PERS CSE further perform the following:receiving, at the e-PERS CSE, a ping message from the e-PERS unit,wherein the ping message includes data relating to a status of thee-PERS unit.

Example 23 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 22, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: sending, at the e-PERS CSE, a message waitingmessage to the e-PERS unit to inform the e-PERS unit that a message iswaiting for the e-PERS unit.

Example 24 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 23, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: sending, at the e-PERS CSE, an error message tothe e-PERS unit or receive an error message from the e-PERS unit toindicate that an error has occurred in a last interaction between thee-PERS unit and the e-PERS CSE.

Example 25 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 24, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: receiving, at the e-PERS CSE, a get message fromthe e-PERS unit, wherein the get message requests the server to send amessage waiting for the e-PERS unit to the e-PERS unit.

Example 26 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 25, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: receiving, at the e-PERS CSE, a radio frequency(RF) codes message from the e-PERS unit or send an RF codes message tothe e-PERS unit.

Example 27 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 26, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: sending, at the e-PERS CSE, a download message tothe e-PERS unit instructing the e-PERS unit to download a file from thee-PERS CSE or a selected server, wherein the file is one or more of anaudio file, a text file, a picture file, or a multimedia file.

Example 28 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 27, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: sending, at the e-PERS CSE, a force ping messageto the e-PERS unit to request the e-PERS unit to ping the e-PERS CSEwithin a predetermined time period.

Example 29 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 28, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: sending, at the e-PERS CSE, a go-to-mode messageto the e-PERS unit, requesting the e-PERS unit to enter a specific mode.

Example 30 includes the at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of any of Examples 20 to 29, wherein the instructionswhen executed by one or more processors at the e-PERS CSE furtherperform the following: sending, at the e-PERS CSE, one or more of avoice message, a text message, or a video message to the e-PERS unit tobe displayed on a display screen of the e-PERS unit.

Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, can take theform of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media,such as floppy diskettes, compact disc-read-only memory (CD-ROMs), harddrives, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, or any othermachine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loadedinto and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomesan apparatus for practicing the various techniques. Circuitry caninclude hardware, firmware, program code, executable code, computerinstructions, and/or software. A non-transitory computer readablestorage medium can be a computer readable storage medium that does notinclude signal. In the case of program code execution on programmablecomputers, the computing device can include a processor, a storagemedium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatilememory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at leastone output device. The volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storageelements can be a random-access memory (RAM), erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM), flash drive, optical drive, magnetic hard drive,solid state drive, or other medium for storing electronic data. One ormore programs that can implement or utilize the various techniquesdescribed herein can use an application programming interface (API),reusable controls, and the like. Such programs can be implemented in ahigh level procedural or object oriented programming language tocommunicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can beimplemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case,the language can be a compiled or interpreted language, and combinedwith hardware implementations.

As used herein, the term processor can include general purposeprocessors, specialized processors such as VLSI, FPGAs, or other typesof specialized processors, as well as baseband processors used intransceivers to send, receive, and process wireless communications.

It should be understood that many of the functional units described inthis specification have been labeled as modules, in order to moreparticularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, amodule can be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising customvery-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays,off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or otherdiscrete components. A module can also be implemented in programmablehardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmablearray logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

In one example, multiple hardware circuits or multiple processors can beused to implement the functional units described in this specification.For example, a first hardware circuit or a first processor can be usedto perform processing operations and a second hardware circuit or asecond processor (e.g., a transceiver or a baseband processor) can beused to communicate with other entities. The first hardware circuit andthe second hardware circuit can be incorporated into a single hardwarecircuit, or alternatively, the first hardware circuit and the secondhardware circuit can be separate hardware circuits.

Modules can also be implemented in software for execution by varioustypes of processors. An identified module of executable code can, forinstance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computerinstructions, which can, for instance, be organized as an object,procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identifiedmodule need not be physically located together, but can comprisedisparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joinedlogically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purposefor the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code can be a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and can even be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.Similarly, operational data can be identified and illustrated hereinwithin modules, and can be embodied in any suitable form and organizedwithin any suitable type of data structure. The operational data can becollected as a single data set, or can be distributed over differentlocations including over different storage devices, and can exist, atleast partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.The modules can be passive or active, including agents operable toperform desired functions.

Reference throughout this specification to “an example” or “exemplary”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment ofthe present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in an example”or the word “exemplary” in various places throughout this specificationare not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositionalelements, and/or materials can be presented in a common list forconvenience. However, these lists should be construed as though eachmember of the list is individually identified as a separate and uniquemember. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as ade facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based ontheir presentation in a common group without indications to thecontrary. In addition, various embodiments and example of the presentinvention can be referred to herein along with alternatives for thevarious components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments,examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as defactoequivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate andautonomous representations of the present invention.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics canbe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided, such asexamples of layouts, distances, network examples, etc., to provide athorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled inthe relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, layouts, etc. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of thepresent invention in one or more particular applications, it will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerousmodifications in form, usage and details of implementation can be madewithout the exercise of inventive faculty, and without departing fromthe principles and concepts of the invention. Accordingly, it is notintended that the invention be limited, except as by the claims setforth below.

What is claimed is:
 1. An enhanced personal emergency response system(e-PERS) unit, comprising: one or more processors configured to:transmit a general message related to a personal emergency to a personalemergency response system (PERS) computing service environment (CSE),wherein the general message includes an identification (ID) of thee-PERS unit to enable the e-PERS CSE to send the ID of the e-PERS unitto a monitoring station; receive a unit profile message from the e-PERSCSE for the e-PERS unit; and place the voice call to the monitoringstation in response to receiving the general message from the e-PERSCSE; or receive a voice call from the monitoring station in response toreceiving the ID of the e-PERS unit at the monitoring station; and adisplay screen configured to display information including informationreceived from the e-PERS CSE; and a base unit help button configured totransmit the general message via the one or more processors to thee-PERS CSE.
 2. The e-PERS unit of claim 1, further comprising atransceiver configured to communicate using a wireless wide area network(W-WAN) radio access technology (RAT) standard or a wireless local areanetwork (W-LAN) radio access technology standard.
 3. The e-PERS unit ofclaim 1, further comprising a modular expansion, wherein the modularexpansion is configured to receive a wireless wide area network (W-WAN)radio access technology (RAT) standard module.
 4. The e-PERS unit ofclaim 1, further comprising a modular expansion, wherein the modularexpansion is configured to receive a wireless local area network (W-LAN)radio access technology (RAT) standard module.
 5. The e-PERS unit ofclaim 1, further comprising a modular expansion, wherein the modularexpansion is configured to receive a plain old telephone service (POTS)receptor.
 6. The e-PERS unit of claim 1, wherein the e-PERS unit isconfigured to communicate with one or more personal help buttons.
 7. Thee-PERS unit of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to receive information about the type of communication thatis received, wherein the type of communication includes one or more of:voice communication or data communication.